Senior Year
by melaniemelmelgirl
Summary: It's senior year for Sakura and her gang of friends.  Life becomes suddenly quite different for her and her friends, with the stress of finals, college and jobs come near. Can Sakura and Syaoran's relationship make it through it all?  Read and find out!
1. School's not out for summer!

Senior Year

By melaniemelmelgirl

Disclaimer: Obviously, if I were the owner of Cardcaptor Sakura, I would not be here writing fanfictions. I'd probably be relaxing at one of my many European vacation homes. Me no own, you no sue!

Author's Note: Well, it's been a few years since I've published any fanfictions, but recently I was re-inspired to start writing again. I think the hecticness of being in college, and working took over, which is why I went on a several year hiatus. But, I think I'd like to try new stories, and see where the go from here. I've been out of school for nearly a year now, and have settled into a career now, and I've got a bit more free time these days. I doubt any of my older readers from the fanfictions I wrote several years are still around, so I'd like to obtain some new readers! Anyhow, enjoy, and please review!

Description: It's senior year for Sakura Kinomoto and her gang of friends. Life becomes suddenly quite different for her and her friends, with the stresses of finals, applying for colleges, and getting jobs come near. Can Sakura and Syaoran's relationship make it through these less carefree times? Can Sakura's poor math grades get her into a decent university? Read and find out!

Chapter One: School's...not out for summer, anymore.

…

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP" rang the alarm clock.

A sleepy, tousle-haired Sakura Kinomoto sat up in bed, eyes half open.

Stretching, she looked at the clock. Only 6:00 in the morning.

Then she remembered why she'd set the clock for so early: It was the first day of her senior year, and classes started promptly at 8:00!

Sighing, she reluctantly left her warm bed to head for the shower. She didn't want to be late on what could be the first day of the best year of her life.

"La de dah de da!" she warbled off-key as she lathered her cherry-blossom scented shampoo into her hair.

Getting out of the shower, she dried off with a poofy pink towel and headed to get dressed.

She headed back to her room, and stood in front of her closet as she tried to decide what to wear.

Just yesterday, in fact, she had gone off shopping with Tomoyo and some of her other girlfriends to find some school outfits at the mall. They had a great time hitting up sales at A&E, Abercrombie, Hollister, Aeropostale and Maurices. She had saved up money all summer long working at a sporting goods store.

Now that Sakura was a senior, and the head cheerleader, she wanted to step up her fashion sense more than usual.

She picked a 'distressed denim' light mini out, with a pink and black plaid button up top. She'd go for the grunge/cute look. Picking a pair of pink converse to go with, she set off to get dressed.

Next, she sat in front of her dressing table and chose what make up she'd like to wear. She never went for the heavy, gaudy look, but chose tones and colors that accented her peaches-and-cream complexion. She then brushed her layered, shoulder-length honey brown hair and styled it like normal.

Shoving her notebooks and pens into her new black messenger-style bookbag, grabbed her new Coach purse, and ran out the door after saying goodbye to her brother and father.

Her father, Fujitaka was still teaching at the University but was considering retiring soon. He was around 55 years or so, not that old but he wanted to write some architecture books and teaching took up way too much of his time to focus on writing.

Touya was in his last year of graduate school, at the University of Tomoeda. He'd be going back to school in a week and just subleased and apartment with Yukito. They both were training to be physicians, and would enter med school next year.

Sakura quickly ran out of the door and got into her car, a used but very nice Volkswagen Beetle (got rid of the roller blades finally!). It was red, as pink wasn't an option, but on the inside she had cherry blossom seat covers, steering wheel cover and floor mats, as well as a dangly cherry air freshener. She'd just bought it over the summer after saving for a long, long time. Her dad helped her out, of course.

She drove on off to Ihop, where she was meeting all of her friends and 7:00 for a back to school breakfast.

As seniors, they had the privilege of starting class at 8:00 instead of 7:15, like all the rest of the students. It was so nice to be able to sleep in that extra bit every day. Especially now that Sakura was moved onto an evening or night shift, instead of a day shift now that school was back in session.

Getting out of her car, she could see through the front window that her friends had already secured a large booth. She quickly went inside and joined her friends.

"Hey, babe!" said Syaoran, giving her a quick side-hug and peck on cheek as she sat down next to him.

"Hey there. Morning!" she said to everyone.

She got back a chorus of "Morning!" "Sup!" "Yo!" from everyone.

Already seated were Syaoran, Meilin and her boyfriend Yazu, Tomoyo and Eriol, Chiharu and Yamazaki, Naoko, Rika and her boyfriend Tenchi (she finally gave up that childhood teacher crush.)

Sakura started chatting animatedly with Syaoran and her friends about school schedules, classes, after-school activities, and new clothes.

Finally, as the waitress came around, everyone placed their heaping orders of pancakes, French toast, eggs and more.

Everyone chowed down as the excitement of a new school year floated in the air. Sure, going back to school wasn't always the MOST exciting thing ever, but being a senior had its perks…the later start time, the right to leave school one hour early on a work/study arrangement, senior privileges (such as a more relaxed dress code, ability to drive off-campus at lunch, etc.), and since most students had their boring requirements such as math and chemistry out of the way, they were free to pursue more interesting electives.

Sakura was pretty excited about this, since the only difficult class she had anticipated was trigonometry. She had failed it last year, and needed to re-take it. Since 3 years of math were required for graduation, it was crucial she did well. Also, there was the fact that university applicants needed a high GPA, and her low math scores brought her down slightly. If she didn't truly step it up this year, she may be faced with a community or tech college as opposed to university.

After everyone was done eating, they decided to swap schedules before their bill arrived.

Sakura took hers out and glanced at it for the zillionth time.

She would arrive at school at 8, and from then on she would have:

8:00-8:45: Trig (the dreaded subject)

8:45-9:30: Gym

9:30-9:45: 15-minute break

9:45-10:30: Japanese Literature

10:30-11:15: English 4

11:15-12:00: Lunch

12:00-12:45: Chinese 2 (she was learning Chinese so that when she visited Syaoran in Hong Kong during summer breaks, she could converse with locals better.)

12:45-1:30: Pottery

1:30-2:15: Graphic Design

She smiled, thinking of how easy her senior year would be, other than having the dreaded Trig. She didn't have a study hall this semester, but she did have that 15-minute break where she could always review something. Plus, the lighter class load meant she didn't have as much work either. Her day ended at 2:15, earlier than the rest of the non-seniors, so she could rush off to her part time job. In fact, all of her friends kept their part-time jobs into their senior year, at least for now.

Sakura was working at Tomoeda Sporting Goods, selling sports equipment and exercise machines to fit people.

Syaoran worked for a local dojo, giving martial arts lessons to elementary school kids.

Tomoyo worked at a fashionable wedding gown store, and also had interned for a few weeks at a video production/photography company that filmed and photographed weddings and graduations. She also had taken many of her friend's senior portraits on the side.

Eriol had interned at a law firm, but for extra cash mowed lawns as well.

Chiharu worked at a nursing home, where trained to be a CNA (Certified Nurse's Aide) which paid really well for a teen.

Yamakazi was working as a museum docent, telling over-the-top stories about the ancient artifacts and paintings.

Naoko had worked at the local library shelving books and checking them out, and also volunteered at the senior center, playing cards with the older folks.

Rika worked at Tomoeda Pet Shop. She loved working there, helping people pick out pet food or adopt kittens. They took in kitten and puppy rescues for adoption from the pet shelter, as there was a constant overflow of pets. The store was rare in that it didn't believe in 'puppy/kitten mills'. Rika was proud to work at a place like that. Her boyfriend Tenchi worked just next door at the music store, selling CDs and guitars.

Meilin worked at a gym helping teach aerobics and yoga classes, and wanted to learn about personal training. Her boyfriend Yazu worked at a gourmet restaurant in town as a waiter, but helped out with prep cooking sometimes.

Everyone was staying pretty busy, but were all starting to save money for college, cars, prom dresses, and so on. Life was getting pretty expensive…

Done eating, the students quickly paid their bill and piled into their various cars/motorcycles (Syaoran, at least :P) and rode off to class.

As Sakura got to school, she found a parking spot, and started off into the large high school…

…..

Well, what did you guys think? I'll try to have the next chapter posted within a week. I'd love any suggestions or comments, or any evil plot twists you might have in mind (^_^). Well, please review, and you guys will see your next chapter soon!


	2. First Day of Class

Senior Year

By melaniemelmelgirl

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own CCS. As if!

Description: It's senior year for Sakura Kinomoto and her gang of friends. Life becomes suddenly quite different for her and her friends, with the stresses of finals, applying for colleges, and getting jobs come near. Can Sakura and Syaoran's relationship make it through these less carefree times? Can Sakura's poor math grades get her into a decent university? Read and find out!

Author's Note: Well, I really enjoyed writing the first chapter so I thought I'd get a start on the second one right away. Thanks for the reviews I got, from: Walking on Sunshine, dotdot, Anime Girl, lil spark, and Alana. It meant a lot to me!

I hope to get as many chapters done as possible in the next week or two, because I'll be going out of town for Halloween to visit a friend at college, and in two weeks I'll be flying to Texas for a week to visit family. Busy, busy!

Oh, yeah. I have this story rated T for teen, because this story is BASED on teenagers, who of course swear occasionally, and make out and stuff. Sexual stuff may be implied, but this won't turn into some lemon situation. I'm bad at writing stuff like that haha. Anyhow, enjoy!

…..

Chapter Two: First Day of Class

Sakura put her backpack away in her locker and took out the essentials she'd need for her next class. She'd already made it to Math and Gym without much incident, and her first break was over. She was headed off to Japanese Literature next. First days usual weren't too eventful, other than saying hi to people you hadn't seen all summer, and getting all sorts of syllabuses and supply lists from the teachers. Sakura was bored already, and couldn't wait for lunch where she could talk with her friends about all the latest gossip.

She slammed her locker, and noticed Chiharu and Yamakazi slowly walking down the hall. She yelled to them, and caught up.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Sakura asked the two.

"Not a lot, just got done with Physics and am heading off to Choir", Chiharu said.

"Yeah, Physics sucked. I've got auto shop next." Yamakazi exclaimed.

"Sounds more interesting than Japanese Literature, which I have. Honestly, why we have to learn about so many dead boring authors is beyond me. And this teacher ALWAYS assigns haikus for homework. Those poems are so pointless!" Sakura complained, Chiharu and Yamakazi nodding in agreement.

"Lucky you! I don't have it until next semester, which isn't so bad. But, I do have Geography now, which isn't all that exciting!" Chiharu said.

"Better that than Jap Lit. Anyhow, I'll see you guys at lunch, I've gotta run. I'm on the other side of the building." said Sakura.

The three friends waved and Sakura walked off to her class.

…..

"Blah blah blah…" the teacher droned on and on. Sakura sighed, reluctantly copying down notes. The teacher was droning on about ancient kabuki theatre, about really obscure plays that were really boring. She couldn't wait for this nightmare to be over; she was actually looking forward to English class next.

English she liked, it was fairly easy to learn and Sakura enjoyed speaking it. She went to California with her brother and father her sophomore year, and her flawless English really helped them navigate LA and the surrounding areas.

Her plan was to finish school, HOPEFULLY get into a decent university and major in physical education, with a minor in English. Her desire was to teach gym to middle or high school students, and coach things like cheerleading and gymnastics. She'd do the English minor to fall back on, in case there weren't any gym teacher jobs when she graduated.

She wanted to end up where Syaoran was studying; they hopefully would be accepted to the same university. Syaoran's duties required him to return to Hong Kong every summer with Meilin for training by the elders and some personal trainers. Once he graduated from university, his duties bound him to live in Hong Kong full time. So, if Sakura stayed with Syaoran, she too would have to move to Hong Kong. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, though in the mean time she was studying Chinese to help her out for when she visited.

The bell rang, and Sakura gratefully exited the room and walked on down to English.

As she turned down the hall, she heard high-pitched laughter in the distance. Up ahead, she saw the school's biggest slut Yumi Rezonuki (lol, she's this angry slut I stick in all of my fanfics.) laughing with some guys and a few of her fellow slutty drones. This girl had a terrible reputation, and would sleep with anybody who looked her way. Short (4 foot 10), skinny (maybe 70 pounds), and skanky (skintight halter top, leather miniskirt that went one inch below her ass). Her drones dressed similarly, although many were taller, but they were all skinny and dressed skankily.

Sakura scowled, and tried to walk past the Skank Pack without being noticed. No such luck, though, as Yumi saw Sakura walking past.

"Hey, bitch!" Yumi called out. "How come I don't see that boyfriend drone of yours plastered up to you? He dump your ugly ass, or something?"

"Wow, you must really have an unhappy life, Yumi. No we didn't break up; he just has a different class schedule. I'm not so insecure that I have to be by my flavor of the week 24/7, like you do." Sakura replied.

Yumi scowled, "Bitch, I ain't insecure. I've got more confidence than any of the other wannabees in this hellhole, including you. You'd better watch your back, or I may go out and steal your man!"

Sakura burst out laughing.

"I don't think he'd even want to loan a pencil to a walking STD like you. He's got better taste than that." She said, and with that, flounced off to class.

Yumi stood there; jaw dropped, and said "BITCH, THIS AIN'T OVER YET! IMA BREAK YOU DOWN, HO, SOMEDAY!"

But Sakura barely heard, as she was already down the hallway.

She'd been dealing with the ever-unpleasant Yumi for years now.

She hadn't been so bad when they were kids; in fact Yumi had been one of her closer friends. But as they went off to junior high, Yumi got involved with the bad crowd, and was incredibly spoiled by her divorced father. He paid hardly any attention to her, and basically threw money her way. Yumi got involved with many, many guys, drinking and drugs by the time she was 13. After that, there was no going back to her nice old self. Yumi was hooked on being a skanky bitch.

Yumi, looking pissed, said to her drones "Whatevs. Let's go outside and grab a smoke before the next class" and walked away.

….

Sakura stood in the a la carte lunch line with Tomoyo, who was animatedly chatting about her new video editing class.

"And Sakura, you wouldn't believe it, but I got voted head of the Movie Club! That means I get to film this year's class movie, and I get to choose who stars in it!"

"That's great Tomoyo, you have so much talent! I can't wait to see who you pick and what the movie is about!" Sakura exclaimed, setting herself up in a dangerous situation.

"Oh, well about that, Sakura—" Tomoyo said evilly, thinking of how she'd cast Sakura as the main character, and of the costumes she'd sew, when they were all of a sudden interrupted by Meilin.

"WHAT UP, girlies!" a very hyper Meilin exclaimed.

Her boyfriend Yazu followed closely behind.

"Not much, just picking out something to eat" Sakura replied. "How's your day been?"

"It's been AWESOME, Yazu's been making this awesome chicken in his Gourmet Cooking class, and I was whooping butt in Advanced Sports! Broomball and I were MADE for each other!" Meilin exclaimed.

Sakura and Tomoyo laughed, and Tomoyo said "Awesome, I guess this means you're serious about becoming a personal trainer, huh?"

"You bet! I can't WAIT to learn all the sports they're teaching this year, and to improve my own peak performance!" Meilin replied.

The two chatted about the sports, while Yazu went off to chat with Tenchi about a song he was editing in Music Production, while Sakura advanced in the lunch line.

She picked out a grilled chicken salad and lemonade, and went to the checkout line.

Looking behind her, she saw Tomoyo and Meilin still chatting away and holding up the line, so she said "YOU GUYS! Move it!"

Meilin and Tomoyo jumped a little at this, and then proceeded. Meilin grabbed a Powerbar and water, and Tomoyo picked up a slice of pizza and Pepsi.

Paying, the girls went to sit at the table with their other friends.

"Baby!" Tomoyo said to Eriol as she sat down next to him.

"How was your day, honey? It sucks that we don't have any classes together this semester!" she whined to him.

"I know baby, it's hard, but next semester we'll have two together!" Eriol replied.

"Hey, did you guys know that the homecoming dance is only in THREE WEEKS?" Rika exclaimed.

"Wow, so early this year! Are any of you signing up to decorate or build floats for the parade?" Naoko asked.

"Yep!" replied Sakura, Meilin, and Tomoyo. "What about you, Chiharu?" they asked.

Chiharu stopped sucking face with Yamakazi momentarily, and said "Sure, sign me up!" and went back to making out, ignoring her untouched lunch on its tray.

"SAKURA! Do you know what this means?" Tomoyo asked.

"No, what?" Sakura replied.

"IT'S TIME TO SHOP FOR HOMECOMING DRESSES!" Tomoyo practically screamed.

Sakura fainted anime-style, and said "Oh come on, Syaoran hasn't even asked me yet!" she said, winking at him.

"Yeah, about that, I don't think we should go this year. I thought we'd…study instead!" Syaoran joked, and ducked from Sakura's mallet.

"No really, hun, we can go. Will you go with me?" he asked Sakura.

"Duh! Now, I'll be dragged to about 20 stores with Tomoyo for dress shopping!"

Everyone laughed, and the girls spent the rest of the lunch period talking about what kinds of dresses they wanted.

The guys sweatdropped, and decided to talk about cars indeed. A safe subject, for when the girls wanted nothing more to do than talk about clothes.

Shortly after, the bell rang and the teens reluctantly got up and went to their next class.

"Syao, I'll see you after Pottery class?" said Sakura.

"Yeah, hun. We'll have Graphic Design and then I'll walk you to work." Syaoran said.

"Whee! I'll see you then!" Sakura said, giving him a quick hug before running off to Chinese.

…..

The rest of Sakura's afternoon was pretty uneventful, although she got into a mini clay war with Tomoyo in Pottery class. After it ended, she walked across the building to the computer wing, where she met up with Syaoran for Graphic Design.

Sakura sort of signed up with the class just to be with Syaoran, as it was the only class they'd have together. She really knew nothing about graphic design, but through maybe she'd get something useful out of it. After all, how hard could it be to ace it?

"Hey hunny!" she said to Syaoran as she approached the classroom.

"Hey babe, how was your afternoon so far?" he asked.

"Good, more interesting than the morning" she replied.

"Well, hopefully we'll get to do some pretty cool stuff in this class. I hear we get to use Photoshop, InDesign, Publisher, Corel Draw, all the latest programs!" he said to her.

"Uh huh…" she nodded in agreement, pretending to know what he was talking about.

"I'm thinking of joining the yearbook group, if I like this stuff enough!" he announced.

"Really? Won't that interfere with your sports?" Sakura asked.

"Nope, it meets in the mornings before class, so I should be good."

"Well, that sort of defeats your whole 'sleep in this year' policy!" she joked.

"It's okay; we meet up at 7:15. Only the seniors get to work on the yearbook!" he said.

"That's pretty cool I guess. Oh hey, there's the teacher!" she said as the teacher walked in.

For the rest of the class, the teacher had the students make cool, random pieces of art in Photoshop, allowing them to get used to the program and the Mac computers.

Sakura was glad as the bell rang, for she'd have a busy afternoon. She worked from 2:30-5:30, then she'd rush home for dinner and a bit of homework, and then she had cheerleading practice from 7-9 back at the school.

…..

Not a GREAT ending to the chapter, but I had trouble thinking of a cliffhanger. Please review, and let me know what you thought!


	3. Work, Study, Cheer

Senior Year

By melaniemelmelgirl

Disclaimer: *Yawns* I'm sure you don't want me to launch into a speech about why I DON'T own CCS, but oh yeah! I DON'T OWN CCS!

Description: It's senior year for Sakura Kinomoto and her gang of friends. Life becomes suddenly quite different for her and her friends, with the stresses of finals, applying for colleges, and getting jobs come near. Can Sakura and Syaoran's relationship make it through these less carefree times? Can Sakura's poor math grades get her into a decent university? Read and find out!

Thanks to Suikahime, Kristal, anime gurl, teenage dream and DNA Angel&Cardcaptor Sakura for reviewing!

Author's Note: Geeze, I'm starting the THIRD chapter before I even posted the SECOND. How dedicated am I? :D Enjoy. Review?

…..

Chapter 3: Work, Study, and Cheer

Sakura and Syaoran chatted as he walked her to her job at Tomoeda Sporting Goods. He was talking to her about a new job he was starting at today, since his job teacher martial arts was for the summer only.

"So, what job did you take?" Sakura asked.

"I'll be working at a dry-cleaner's, and only 10 hours a week. It'll give me some extra cash and I won't be too busy with school and clubs". He replied.

"That's cool, which cleaner?" she asked.

"Clow Cleaners" (lol, no magic exists in this story, just wanted to throw a few 'cameo' appearances in here.)

"Oh, they're good I hear. Well, what time do you work?" Sakura asked.

"Just 4 to 6 tonight, it's an intro. I'm about to head to the library to start a paper before I go in to work. And I've got football from 7-9, same time you have your cheerleading."

"You sound pretty busy too. Well, I guess I'll see you later tonight, after practice!" she said as she arrived at work.

"Later hon, love ya!" he said, giving her a kiss before he left.

"Love you too, see ya!" she replied.

"God, you two are so cute it's nauseating" her Goth coworker Emili said as Sakura entered work.

"Haha, come on now! You get mushy over your boyfriend too!" she replied.

Emili laughed and said "True, but I'm just cooler than you!"

"Nuh uh!" Sakura replied, and the two chatted on.

Emili was a sophomore over at Tomoeda University, studying Art Education. How she ended up working at a sporting goods store, no one knew, as she wasn't very athletic and all she wore was black. But she was very friendly, and was very helpful to all of the customers. They kept her on for her personality and customer service, more than her knowledge of exercise bikes or Frisbees.

Sakura worked hard all afternoon, as a cashier at first but then she was put onto stocking shelves with new sporting products as the afternoon grew slow. She unpacked, placed, and straightened athletic wear onto racks. She took note of some really cute pink sports shorts with a cherry blossom on it; she'd have to buy it later with the discount she got there. She received 10% off all items she purchased, and was given a $20 store giftcard each month. She could give it to others if she chose, but she usually used it to help buy cheerleading supplies, or new gym clothes.

Looking at the clock, she saw that it was already 5:35 and quickly clocked out and said goodbye to her co-workers.

Her father had dinner put out on the table promptly at 5:45 every night, and she didn't want to be late.

…

"So, how was your first day?" Fujitaka asked Sakura after they had all been served dinner.

"Great, classes shouldn't be too hard, and we're going to start preparing for Homecoming soon!" Sakura replied, taking a big forkful of pork chop.

"Pshh, like anyone would nominate YOU for homecoming queen, you brat" Touya said.

"I am NOT a brat, and PLENTY of people would nominate me for homecoming queen! You're just bitter because no one would ask you to the dance!" Sakura said.

"Knock it off you two; I swear you guys act more and more like children as you get older. Should be the opposite!" Fujitaka said.

Sakura sighed, and returned to eating her dinner. Apple pie was served, and after Sakura quickly excused herself to start her math homework before going to cheerleading practice.

"Come one, what teacher in their right mind would give homework on the first day back! I HATE math!" thought Sakura, as she reluctantly took out her thick math book and a sheet of paper.

20 minutes later, she had ¾ of her problems complete, the other ones she couldn't figure out. She'd take the book with her, and ask Syaoran to help out after their sports practices.

Sighing, she closed her book and changed into her cheerleading outfit. Grabbing her cheer bag, she said bye to her father and ran out the door back to school. She'd left her car there after class, as her workplace was literally 5 minutes away and what was the point of driving that far? And home was only a mile or two away, so she would run home after work. Good exercise and Sakura would keep it up as long as the good weather lasted.

She lightly jogged the short distance to school and met up with her friends.

She was the head cheerleader this year, with Tomoyo and Meilin both assistant captains. Rika, Chiharu, and Naoko participated on the team as well. Unfortunately, Yumi had somehow gotten on the team this year as well, although she wasn't very talented. Luckily, Sakura thought that this would end quickly, when random drug tests were passed out. Yumi didn't know about this, so she'd be booted out pretty soon.

"Ready, girls?" Sakura said. "Okay, let's begin our practice drills!"

The girls ran about, doing practice jumps, flips and pyramids for awhile, until they started to learn their new routines for the fall sports session.

Practice went quickly, and afterwards Sakura and Syaoran went to the library to finish Sakura's math problems.

Around 10, they decided that they'd had enough and headed off to their homes.

What a busy first day back, and the busyness had just begun!

…

Well, what did you guys think? This was a bit shorter chapter, but I ran out of ideas. I think I'll have the girls go shopping for their homecoming dresses after class the next day, yup yup. Well, please review, and I'll post faster!


	4. More School and Dress Shopping

Senior Year

By melaniemelmelgirl

Disclaimer: -.- Do not own.

Description: It's senior year for Sakura Kinomoto and her gang of friends. Life becomes suddenly quite different for her and her friends, with the stresses of finals, applying for colleges, and getting jobs come near. Can Sakura and Syaoran's relationship make it through these less carefree times? Can Sakura's poor math grades get her into a decent university? Read and find out!

Thanks to for reviewing!

Author's Note: Yay, another chapter! Thanks everyone for the reviews! Please review this chapter and let me know what you thought of it!

I'll be leaving for Texas tomorrow, and won't be back until next weekend. So, don't expect any updates for a while! Enjoy the chapter!

...

Chapter 4: More School and Dress Shopping

-The Next Day At Lunch—

Sakura spoke animatedly with her friends about the dresses they would buy after school for the homecoming dance. Everyone had a date except Naoko, but Meilin was on it—there was a cute single boy in her Math class. She'd try to set the two up.

Sakura's morning went pretty uneventfully…got the typical homework assignments, although luckily not too hard since it was only the second day back. She just had a set of 5 problems for Trig, an essay to read for English class, and find a novel she would read for a Japanese Lit book report.

"So, where do you guys want to look at for dresses?" Sakura asked.

"As if you had to ask! DUH, I work at a WEDDING DRESS and BRIDESMAID store. There are HUNDREDS of gowns that we could try on. They aren't too expensive, either!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Well, we could definitely start there! I know they have some awesome dresses; I had to wear one a year ago from there when my mom got remarried" Rika said.

"Sounds good then! What time do you guys want to meet up?" Tomoyo asked.

Everyone determined that they had off from work today. Luckily no one was overloaded with schoolwork either, so this Tuesday would be a perfect day for them to go. They all agreed to meet at Dreams Come True (the dress store) at 4:00.

Sakura was glad she had the day off today. Her job wasn't too demanding, her boss only gave her 10 hours a week during the school year. She had a set schedule too which was great. Monday and Wednesday she worked from 2:30-5:30, and on Sunday from 1-5.

The bell rang, and everyone put their trays away and went off to class.

-After School—

Sakura closed her locker and loaded up her bookbag, and went off to find Syaoran.

She saw him chatting with a teacher about an upcoming assignment. She waited until they were done speaking, and then approached him.

"Hey baby, how was class?" she said, hugging Syaoran.

"Eh, okay I guess, how about you?" he said, kissing her on the top of the head.

"Not to bad. Good preparation for college I guess" She said, and Syaoran laughed.

"Do you want to walk me to work, hun? I start at 2:30." he asked.

"Yeah. Well, we'd better hurry then, it's already 2:20."

"Just 5 minutes down the road, not to worry." He said.

She took his hand in hers, and they walked outside.

It was another beautiful late summer day, although the leaves would start to change into bright oranges and reds soon. Yes, summer was ending, but with that came all the excitement of fall: Homecoming, fall sports, applying for colleges, ordering senior pictures, and seniors started working on the class movie around that time, so it was ready for graduation. It was about a 15 minute, short comedy film they'd play for everyone to see at the commencement ceremony. Tomoyo was in charge of filming and editing it this year, and she had many people helping out with all the roles and tasks involved.

Sakura smiled, and looked at Syaoran.

"So, you are okay with going to the homecoming dance?" Sakura asked Syaoran.

"Of course, I was just joking yesterday. In fact, I've planned a place for us to go to dinner beforehand already" he said.

"Oooooo, where?" Sakura asked.

"Secret. You'll just have to wait and see!" he said, sticking his tongue out at Sakura.

"Hey!" she said, swinging at him. "Oh well, it'll give me something to look forward to" She said.

Chatting, they continued the rest of the short distance to work. Sadly, Sakura kissed Syaoran and let him go off to work, and she half-heartedly headed back to school to get some work done.

Sakura sat in the school's library when she got back, and was working on her homework. She knew she needed to excel this year if she wanted to get into a good university, so she took every spare moment to dedicate to her books.

It was 3:30, and she'd already read the English essay and done her horrifying math problems, now it was just time to select a book for her report.

Scanning the shelves, Sakura walked around the Historical Literature section of the library, and chose a book set in the 1900's, at the end of feudal Japan. It was about a young girl who worked in a teahouse, and was trying to avoid an arranged marriage. Sakura thought it looked interesting, and went to the checkout counter.

Looking at the clock and seeing that it was already 3:45, she gathered her books up and went out to her car. She drove the quick drive to the dress shop.

Once she got there, she parked and went inside.

She saw Tomoyo behind the counter, putting away her apron and clocking out.

"Hey Tomoyo, you didn't mention you were working tonight!" Sakura said.

"Yeah, they just wanted a little help from 1:45-3:45 because Tori called in sick. Nothing major" Tomoyo said.

"Oh well, extra hours is always a good thing. Any of the other girls here yet?" Sakura asked.

"Nope, not yet. BUT this is perfect, I can show you this light pink gown that just arrived!" Tomoyo said excitedly, and showed Sakura over to a rack.

"Oooohh…" Sakura said, gazing at the long, spaghetti strap pink gown. It was ankle-length, and cut modestly to show just enough cleavage. The top part of it had shimmery fabric with sparkly pink beading, and ended at the waist.

"This is beautiful; did you just get it in?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, just today in fact! And look, it's just your size!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

Sakura looked and saw the size 2 tag. She then saw the price tag, and noticed it was only $120 dollars.

"Wow, I would have expected this dress to cost more. I mean, it is a high quality designer and all" Sakura said.

"Yeah, the owner of the store knows her so we get some good deals from time to time. A lot of the bulk/extra dresses, in fact." Tomoyo replied.

Just then, Rika, Chiharu and Naoko came in, with Meilin trailing down the street.

"Hey guys! OOOh, you found a dress already?" Chiharu exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, come take a look!" Sakura said, and showed the dress of to the girls.

"PERFECT!" they all agreed.

The girls then went around to the various racks, looking at the different designs and trying to find one to fit their style and budget.

"Ahh, look at this one!" Tomoyo said. It was a strapless, knee-length baby blue dress, with light blue lace at the top and bottom of the dress. The dress had tulle/crinoline underneath it to give it a slight poof.

"SUPER cute!" Sakura agreed, the other girls nodding. Tomoyo tried it on and it was a perfect fit.

After about an hour and a half or so, every girl and found a dress they liked, with shoes to match.

Sakura had the long, pink, satin spaghetti strip dress.

Tomoyo had her knee-length, strapless light blue satin dress with lace.

Meilin had a red, shiny satin dress that was strapless and floor-length with a crinoline poof.

Chiharu chose a lime green, strapless dress that went four inches above the knee and puffed slightly.

Naoko had an elegant, long black satin dress that was halter style, with a diamond-back cut away.

Rika chose a chiffon yellow gown that had thin straps and went halfway between the knees and ankle.

Everyone satisfied; they paid and went out for dinner.

"Okay, where do you guys want to go eat?" Sakura asked.

"What about the new pizzeria that just opened, off of Maple and Cherry Blossom Lane?" Naoko suggested.

"Oooh, sounds good! Let's go pig out!" Meilin said and everyone laughed.

"Okay, but not TOO much, I need to stay trim to fit into my dress!" Tomoyo

Laughing, the girls walked off to the pizzeria for some delicious pepperoni pizza, and a little dancing by the jukebox.

...

Well, hope you guys liked it. I know it ended kind of abruptly, but I'm SUPER busy, leaving town first thing in the morning! I'd actually like to have some clean laundry for the trip, lol. Well, REVIEW PLEASE!


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